He opened proceedings with a sip from a beer glass and said: "It's going to be a night of partying and heavy drinking. Or, as Charlie Sheen calls it, breakfast."

Linking a dig at the characterisation of thriller The Tourist with the growth of 3-D film, he said: "Seems like everything this year was three-dimensional. Except the characters in The Tourist.

"I'd like to quash the rumours that the only reason The Tourist was nominated was so that the Hollywood Foreign Press can hang out with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. That is rubbish, that is not the only reason. They also accepted bribes."

The comic also took a jibe at an the sexualities of unnamed Scientologists. He said: "Also not nominated, I Love You Phillip Morris. Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor. Two heterosexual actors pretending to be gay, so the complete opposite of some famous Scientologists then."

Loud "oohs" and intakes of breath from the audience ensued before he added: "Probably. My lawyers helped me with the wording of that joke."

Gervais also poked fun at Hugh Hefner, 84, for marrying a 24-year-old woman and gave her advice on how to handle the relationship.

Alec Baldwin was seen wiping a tear from his eye at Gervais' jokes, while Robert De Niro, who was handed a lifetime achievement award, dissolved in laughter. Halle Berry appeared to laugh and wince at the same time.

Some bloggers praised Gervais' attempts to deflate the pomp of the ceremony but doubted he would ever be invited back.

Caryn James said his performance could have been "legendary" but fell just short. She wrote: "He crossed lines of taste and civility at times, as risky comedy always does. He made one introduction, 'Ashton Kutcher’s Dad – Bruce Willis', and Bruce did not seem amused.

"Things got ugly when he said of Philip Berk, the much-mocked head of the HFPA [Hollywood Foreign Press Association - which picks the winners], 'I had to help him off the toilet and put in his teeth'."